Leaf Man

Leaf Man
by Lois Ehlert
Ages 3-6

Leaf Man is a pretty popular autumn read-a-loud, but I thought I'd post it for those of you who haven't read it yet.

The story begins, "Leaf Man used to live near me, in a pile of leaves." But the wind blows Leaf Man away, and we watch as he flies over gardens, marshes, farms, rivers, and meadows. Someday, you might find him floating past your house.

The best part of this book, though, is that it's almost entirely illustrated with leaves. Leafy chickens, gourds, fish, butterflies...it opens up all kinds of possibilities for creating leaf pictures with your kids.

Leaf Man is available on Amazon.com. To purchase, click on any of the Amazon affiliate links in this post.

Mouse Soup

Mouse Soup
Written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel
Recommended for ages 3-7

Mouse Soup, by Arnold Lobel, is a classic. And I don't usually review classics--so much has been said about them already. But I'm going to slap this one up here because The Boy loved it, and because I think that it's become lesser-known since I read it as a kid.

So here's how Mouse Soup goes. A mouse is sitting under a tree, reading a book, when he's captured by a weasel. The weasel threatens to make soup out of him, but the mouse protests that mouse soup only tastes good if it has some stories in it. The weasel agrees, so the mouse tells four stories, delaying the soup-making and eventually allowing for his escape.

Here's what I love about this book: One, the mouse's stories are funny little things that don't necessarily make a lot of sense. Two, the mouse gets himself out of his predicament using his own wits. Three, it's an easy reader, so your kids may be able to read along with you. And four, it proves that a children's book doesn't have to be flashy or trendy to delight a child. Oh, and five--it's by Arnold Lobel, people!

Anyway, Mouse Soup is available from Amazon; just click on any of the Amazon affiliate links in this post.

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together is part of a series that's perfect for read-aloud time. (The series also includes a collection of fables, one of Mother Goose rhymes, one of scary stories...you get the idea.)

You'll need at least two readers for this. One of you reads the red words, the other of you reads the blue words, and you read the purple words together. The colors alternate every few lines.

We've only read the fairy tale volume, so that's all I can comment on. Each fairy tale is a few pages long, and each of you plays the part of one character. For example, in "Jack and the Beanstalk," I was Jack, and The Boy was the giant. Each tale has a little bit of a twist from the original, and the characters always end up reading to each other in the end. Cute, right?

This is a pretty slim volume, and I'm assuming that the others are, too. The Boy liked this one well enough that I'm sure we'll be checking out the others soon.

I'd recommend this for kids at a first grade reading level or higher. And for parents of any age.

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together
Written by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Michael Emberley
Age range*: 5-8

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: The books reviewed here are books that I own or that have been checked out from the local library. The links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links.

Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose

I read somewhere that children's authors are under a lot of pressure these days--every story that comes out has to teach kids the alphabet, AND how to count, AND farm animal sounds, AND have a nice moral to wrap it all up. It seems that way, anyway. But a story that's trying to do too much just isn't a good story.

Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose is a little bit like that, but not to the extreme. It's a collection of Mother Goose rhymes that have numbers in them--One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, for example. Most of them are familiar nursery rhymes, and a few are unfamiliar. It's always fun to learn a new nursery rhyme.

So this book is kind of fun, but I think its effectiveness at teaching numbers, if you want to use it for teaching, depends on the child. Some kids would do well learning their numbers in the context of a nursery rhyme, while some would probably do better to learn their numbers in a simpler way. I think Little Boy was the second type.

What I really recommend is using this book as a fun collection of nursery rhymes for kids that can already count. They'll enjoy counting along and seeing how the numbers work in different rhymes.

Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose
Collected and illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
Age range*: 3-6
My rating: 3 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library. 

The Snowman

Life has been crazy lately! But I'm back (for now). I just noticed that I didn't even post any Valentine's stories this year...but I did a few last year, so I guess that's not a total loss.

Anyway, we've been reading a lot of winter-themed books at our house, in between the Christmas stories and the Valentine's Day stories--and I'm trying to squeeze some in now, before we get to St. Patrick's and Easter.

The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs, is a wordless picture book. (I've heard that there's a version out with words now, but that the wordless version is better--it has more pictures and more of a story to tell.) Some kids love this kind of story, especially pre-readers, who feel like they can "read" the story on their own. Other kids aren't really into it. Little Boy is kind of neutral about them, so I get wordless books from the library occasionally, but they're not usually favorites for him.

This story is about a boy who has an adventure during the night with a snowman. The boy invites the snowman into his house and shows him all kinds of wonders--like the stove, which the snowman stays far away from, to a set of false teeth floating in a glass of water, to an ice chest. Then the snowman takes the boy outside, and they fly up into the sky, over cities and forests, and then back home. The next morning, the boy goes outside to play with his friend again, but finds that the snowman has already melted.

This, depending on your child, is a good place to say, "The end!" and leave it at that, or to talk about what happens when friends go away.

The Snowman
Written and illustrated by Raymond Briggs
Age range*: 4-7
My rating: 3 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library. 

Babar and Father Christmas

I have a confession to make: I didn't grow up reading Babar.

I know. It's like I didn't have a childhood.

Anyway, as an adult I've read two stories about Babar: the first Babar story, and Babar and Father Christmas. In Babar and Father Christmas, Babar's children hear that a magical being called Father Christmas visits human children--but why doesn't he visit elephant children? Babar is an excellent king and father, so he sets off to speak to Father Christmas and hopefully persuade him to come to Elephant Land (or wherever it is that Babar lives). Father Christmas can't come, but he inspires Babar to be Father Christmas in his place. Ta-da! Best elephant Christmas ever.

There are a couple of things about Babar stories, including this one, that make them interesting. One is that they were written in the 1930s. The second is that they were written in French, and then translated to English. Put the two together, and you get text that sounds a bit different from the storybooks of today. I, personally, think it's kind of charming.

The only downside to Babar and Father Christmas is that it's l-o-o-ng. Read it to a child who has a good attention span, or maybe just read a little of it at a time. Some kids might have questions about words or phrases that sound different from today's English, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

Babar and Father ChristmasWritten and illustrated by Jean de Brunhoff
Age range*: 3-6
My rating: 5 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.

Elmer

Elmer is an elephant. An elephant who looks different.

All the other elephants love Elmer because he does silly things to make the other elephants laugh. But Elmer gets tired of being the "funny one." So he goes into the jungle, finds some elephant-colored mud, and spreads it all over himself.

When he gets back to the elephant herd, no one notices him at all. He looks just like everyone else. But then something funny happens, and the other elephants figure things out. The end of the story is fun--but I'll leave that for you to discover.

So this is a story about being different and being yourself. It's a good message. I'm not sure that younger kids will really get the message unless it's explained to them, but they'll definitely like a crazy-colored elephant.

Elmer

Written by David McKee
Age range*: 3-6
My rating: 4 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.

Fox in Socks

I don't usually write about classic kids' books on this blog--I figure enough has been said about them already. Unless I have something specific to say about a particular book. Which I do. Now.

I really like Fox in Socks.

It might just be because I'm a word nerd, but I like reading the tongue-twisters with Little Boy. I like the way the words sound together. My very favorite part is the tweedle beetle battle at the end.

So, it's a fun one. If you're not into tongue-twisters, or you don't think your child would enjoy it, no big deal. Pick something else off the shelf--Dr. Seuss has stories for everyone.

Fox in Socks

Written by Dr. Seuss
Age range*: 3-6
My rating: 4 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.

Alphabears

[Update: I'm required by the new FTC guidelines to tell you that this post includes Amazon Affiliate links. I choose these books myself, from the local library or my own bookshelf.]

This is a sweet book. There's a teddy bear for each letter of the alphabet ("A is for Amanda..."), plus a little rhyming description of the bear. It's cute.

However, if you're looking for a book to teach your child the alphabet, this is probably not the book for you. The vocabulary level is a bit above the age when most kids are learning the alphabet.

Also, if you're looking for something with bright colors and snappy text, this isn't it. It's laid-back and mellow, which isn't a bad thing--but do consider your child's temperament before checking it out. Little Boy liked it, but he didn't love it.

Alphabears is available from Amazon.com

Written by Kathleen Hague 
Age range: 4-7  (Age ranges are very flexible.)

The Paper Bag Princess

Mommies everywhere love this book. (Okay, maybe some daddies do, too.)

The princess in the story finds herself with nothing after a dragon eats her castle, burns up her beautiful clothes, and carries off her prince. And she's angry about it--wouldn't you be? The only thing she can find to wear is a paper bag--hence the title.

So she goes after the dragon. When she finds it (him? her?), the princess uses her wits to outsmart the dragon and rescue her prince. The rescue part doesn't go quite as she planned, but that turns out to be the best part.

And that's why mommies love The Paper Bag Princess. Mommies love when a strong female character creates her own destiny. And the story doesn't preach or anything--there's just the story, and that's that. An excellent alternative to Disney, if you ask me.

The Paper Bag Princess

Written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Age range*: 4-7
My rating: 4 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.